It’s September. Students and teachers are back to school. Halloween candy and decorations are on display at every retail store. Mornings have become a little more brisk, and everyone around me seems eager for fall to be in full swing. On the food related front that means lots and lots of pumpkin. How many pumpkin lattes and pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese frosting recipes have you seen this month alone? Pinterest is sure buzzing with those! Even those that mourn the summer (nearly!) ending appear to be unable to contain the excitement of all that is pumpkin. Are you one of them?
I didn’t grow up drinking pumpkin lattes and eating pumpkin muffins, so I am not as anxious to move into fall just yet. For me, fall always meant going back to school and a little less playing time in the yard with my friends (our food didn’t change much… except for maybe less okroshka and more borscht and shchi). Even now that I’m an adult, fall means getting closer to winter so I want to savor every last sunny summer day… until I can no longer be in denial that fall is indeed upon us. 
This layered jello cake is fantastic for just that. It’s cool and refreshing. I know that jello isn’t uniquely Russian but the use of sour cherries and sour cream sure gives it that Russian flair. I love the contrast between the sweetened sour cherry jello and the creaminess of the milk and chocolate layers. Make this cake while summer is still upon us (and any other day when I wish it still was)!
Ingredients:
- 10 envelopes of unflavored gelatine (1/4 oz each), divided
- 1 cup sweetened cherry juice
- 1 cup cherries, pitted
- 1 2/3 cups sour cream, divided (400 grams)
- 1 cup sugar, divided
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, divided
- 1 tablespoon cacao powder (unsweetened)
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts, toasted
Instructions:
Layer #1 – Cherry
- Whisk cherry juice with 4 envelopes of gelatine. Let stand for 1 minute.
- Add 3/4 cup of boiling water to the gelatinous cherry juice. Whisk to combine.
[Pre and post boiling water mixtures]
- Pour into a medium-large bowl with a smooth interior.
- Mix in cherries (this will be your top layer so make it pretty).
- Refrigerate for approx. 1.5 hours, until firm. [This is a good time to make the sour cream mixture!]
Layer #2 – Milk
- Whip half of sour cream with half of sugar, until nearly dissolved.
- Whisk in 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. Let rest until the first layer is solid.
- Whisk 1/4 cup cold water with 3 envelopes. Let stand for 1 minute.
- Add 1/4 cup boiling water to the gelatin mixture.
- Add gelatin mixture to the sour cream mixture.
- Make sure the first layer is really solid before proceeding, otherwise the cream layer will “bleed” into the cherry layer. See, it doesn’t move when the bowl is tilted!
- Pour the cream mixture over the first cake layer.
- Refrigerate for approx. 45 minutes, until firm.
Layer #3 – Chocolate
- Whip remaining half of sour cream with remaining half of sugar, until nearly dissolved.
- Whisk in cacao powder + 1/2 teaspoon vanilla.
- Let rest until the second layer is solid.
- Mix 1/4 cup of cold water with 3 packets of gelatin. Let rest for 1 minute.
- Add 1/4 cup boiling water to the gelatin mixture.
- Add gelatin mixture to the chocolate mixture.
- Mix in chopped walnut pieces.
- Pour over the two-layer cake.
- Refrigerate for approx. 45 minutes, until firm.
Inverting the cake
- Prepare serving plate.
- Bring a large pot of water to boil.
- Dip in the cake bowl into the pot several times. This should loosen the jello.
- Invert the jello cake over the serving plate. You may need to go over the edges with a knife to help it out (see picture above).
- Slice and serve. Enjoy
:
that looks fantastic!! and i’ll take a slice
What a beautiful dessert!
I’m seeing a recurring theme with all these Russian foods: cherries and sour cream .
Yup. Just can’t live without those 2!
like you said, the combination between the sour/ sweet of the cherry and the creamy sweet of the other two layers is divine. i could go for a slice right now
[...] – A new post on a summery Russian dessert is up on Russian Bites. Check it out! September 11th, 2011 | Tags: corn, goat cheese, healthy recipes, peaches, [...]
Pretty! I will keep track of this and come back to it when I’m in the mood to make desserts again (taking a break after an indulgent weekend). I know this would be amazing!
Beautiful cake! I am not a pumpkin lover myself. But probably should at least give it a try.
I am unabashedly one of those people who is excited for the coming fall season… can’t help it
.
Cherries are one of my very favorite fruits… so although I don’t love jello, I would probably like the flavor of this cake.
It’s ok. We’re cool
I think cherries get overlooked around here. I always forget how great they are for incorporating into various desserts. The layers in this look so pretty!
I’m antsy for fall… only so I can wear jeans and sweaters. I’ll get on a pumpkin kick eventually, but right now is too soon.
How unique. I never would have thought of that as Russian but the use of sour cream and sour cherries is awesome.
I am not ready for fall at all, and haven’t gotten into the whole pumpkiny thing this year yet (if I will at all).
This dessert looks so cool! I am scared I would have trouble getting it out, but yours looks so perfect.
Don’t be scared. Just use a knife to “help it out” a bit and if need be, dip it in the boiling water a few more times until it loosens.
[...] Bites has so many amazing recipes I wasn’t sure which to spend more time drooling over. The Russian Layered Jello Cake won though…that photo and cake is amazingly [...]
At first a part of your cake looks similar to my today’s post
Your cake is however much more elaborate, beautiful and very impressive! I am sure it tastes great! I love the tanginess in such unbaked cakes. It’s so refreshing!
Elina, this cake looks scrumptious! I’ve never had anything like this so I would love to give it a try! Btw, have you ever made tvorojnaya zapikanka (cottage cheese dessert?)? I made it a couple of times and my husband and the kids loved it. It was a recipe I found online. But I would like to know how you make it.
Yana – I haven’t tried tvorojnaya zapikanka but that brings some very distant memories of eating it. Of course now I’m totally craving it
Do you have your recipe? I’ll also check with my mom on her version (hopefully she has one!)
This is the recipe I used for my cheesecake (http://www.charlottesvveb.com/2010/06/02/zapekanka-iz-tvoroga-baked-russian-cheesecake-recipe/). I added a little bit more of the semolina. It turned out yummy – one of my favorite desserts that I can totally have any time with some condensed milk or honey or jam
I make it very seldom just because I am usually extremely busy taking care of my kids but I really love it! Give it a try!
Thanks so much for the recipe. I can’t wait to try it!!!
[...] update on 10/3: so far I’ve made beef stroganoff, ponchiki, savory profiteroles, blini, layered jello cake, vareniki, chocolate covered [...]
[...] are the perfect marriage between light, fluffy and moist. I know I wrote a whole post intro about not being that much into pumpkin, but I thought you might be. And after the first bite of these, I was instantly brought back to [...]
Interesting cake, will have to try it once!
Hi Elena,
I’ve been reading your blog but this is the first time I’ve commented.
I grew up in a Russian family and lots of traditional food. I searched your blog looking for kissel (Kisel) but couldn’t find one. Do you have a good tried and true recipe for it?
Hi Natasha – glad you’re enjoying the blog! Unfortunately I don’t have a recipe for kissel (my mom didn’t like it so she never made it) but this recipe from Tyler Florence seems to have pretty good reviews: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/apple-cranberry-kissel-with-sweet-sour-cream-recipe/index.html. This one looks pretty authentic too: http://www.ruscuisine.com/recipes/beverages-and-drinks/n–433/
Let me know if you try any of these or find another good recipe. I also asked the question on Facebook so we’ll see if someone else has more experience with kissel. Check back there maybe
Hello- I tried making your jello cake today and it didn’t turn out well for some reason so I have a few questions. First, how much sugar should i add to the cheery juice? Then, for the second layer gelatin mix, it says 1/4 cup cold water, mix, then add 1/4 cup boiling water, so i did but once i started mixing it together with the cream it turned very stiff. Also it doesn’t say anything about adding 1/4 cup cold water to the 3rd layer. Am i supposeto mix in the gelatine part in to the cream right away? Help! Im confused! Thanks!
Hi Tanya, I’m so sorry it didn’t turn out well. Let me see if I can help…
Layer 1: My cherry juice was already sweetened so there was no need to add any more sugar. If yours is not, I’d just sweeten it to taste (start with 1/4 cup maybe and adjust from there).
Layer 2: I think different sour cream brands may be slightly different consistencies so yours may have been thicker. I’d just use 1 less packet of gelatin in this case.
Layer 3: This layer is almost the same as the second – I missed a line when copy pasting the instructions on this one (great catch, I’m really sorry you had to find my mistake the hard way!!). You should start with 1/4 cup cold water and gelatin, just like in the second layer, then add the boiling water to it, then mix it with the chocolate/sour cream mixture.
I hope this helps if you try it again!!
Great! Thank you very much! Will try again soon.
Your post is extremely well done, this dessert is gorgeous!. Thanks for posting! I can’t wait to make this!